What's the tell tale sign of a happy dog? Head out the car window, ears flapping in the wind and tongue hanging out, fully embracing the experience of driving down the highway.
The only problem is, this happy sight may be the cause of thousands of traffic accidents a year, as a new study finds that driving with a dog in the car may be as distracting as driving while texting.
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and Krugo, a company that makes an actual seat belt harness for dogs, found that while 80 percent of the participants in their study claimed to have driven with dogs "on a variety of car trips including day trips, local errands and leisure trips, the pet store, dog parks and to work," only about 17 percent used a "pet restraint system" to keep their dogs from moving around during the trip.
A few experts who weighed in on the study suggested using dog seat belt restraints, doogie booster seats, and keeping pets in an enclosed area (i.e: a cage) while they're in the car.
Part of me believes this study, because I can completely understand how having a hyperactive dog digging into the backseat while you drive down the highway can be distracting – but the fact that one of the benefactors of the study actually makes seat belts for dogs…let's just say I can see why they'd want this issue to seem like a huge deal.
In my normal person's opinion, driving with a well-mannered dog in the passenger seat is fine. Dog seat belts seem like a good idea in theory, but I can't imagine most dogs actually like being strapped in. Keep the hyper ones at home or in a cage in the back, and let your trained dogs enjoy a little wind in their face.
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